Reflective Pictures

I should be ready to travel in two weeks. In the meantime here are some photos of all of my years of hiking.

Hawaii

Rocky Mountain National Park

Colorado

Roosevelt National Forest

Gorman Falls, Colorado Bend State Park

Palo Duro Canyon

Elk Mountain, Wichita  Mountains Wildlife Refuge

Pinnacle Mountain, Arkansas

Little Niagara Falls, Chickasaw National Recreation Area

Petit Jean State Park, Arkansas

Cedar Ridge Preserve, Dallas, Texas

Just a few pictures I have taken on my journeys. I am hoping to get thousands of more pictures of new and old places. I want to visit more states and parks. Plus discover more local hiking spots. The next blog should be one of those new places so hang on for another ride.

 

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Colorado Bend State Park

Colorado Bend State Park is the home of Gorman Falls. The park is located in Bend, TX which is about an hour and forty five minutes northwest of Austin. I have been to five different parks with waterfalls and then I heard about Gorman Falls. A seventy foot multilevel waterfall that will take your breath away. The last large waterfall I tried to go see was dry. Pedernales Falls were very impressive but not as high or as steep as a Gorman type waterfall. I had to go to this waterfall so I planned a two day four park return trip to the Texas hill country. Gorman Falls is not the only grandiose feature of this park. This place has everything from waterfalls, scenic overlooks, caves with bats, vistas, canyons, rock bowls and many other natural features. I could easily spend two days at this park and still not get to every point of interest. I still cannot believe I missed this park in my first visit to the region. The good thing is that I am definitely planning on making a third and fourth visit to the area.

I kept my first trip to Colorado Bend SP fairly simple. I went down to the Colorado River to see the sights from below first.

I hiked the Tie Slide Trail and the Gorman Falls Trail. The trails are both fairly challenging trails but both are worth every step. I started with the Tie Slide Trail and the views down into the Colorado River valley were spectacular. There were a few days of rain before the trip so the river had a good flow and the plants were blooming. The detour trail off of this trail leads you to the River Overlook. It was amazing. Here is a not so great video. 

I could see the top of Gorman Falls from the overlook and I was energized to go down and see the waterfalls. The hike was more technical and very steep in places especially as I got closer to the falls. I could hear the falls and see the tops as I was hiking down into the canyon. The canyon walls were overflowing with water. I cannot explain how the springs were just flowing out of rocks. It was an visually unique natural phenomenon. My pictures did not do it justice and neither did another video.    

I eventually made it to the bottom of Gorman Falls and it was everything I could image and then some. I know there are more spectacular falls in the country but in Texas finding something like this is rare. The falls are so expansive and they seem to be everywhere and the more I looked the more I saw that I did not see minutes prior. I loved the roar of the falls and not many people were there so it was also quite peaceful. My favorite Gorman Falls video. 

The hike back to the trailhead was a tiring trek mostly all uphill. I was still seeing things I missed on the way down. It is a different view going the opposite direction. I do not always like out and backs but this one was not too bad. I finally saw some people hiking down and when I got to the parking lot it was full.

The next time I visit Colorado Bend SP, I want to hike Spicewood Springs Trail and Spicewood Canyon Trail. I eventually want to go to the bat caves and Tinaja.

Next up is my second trip to Inks Lake SP and I was more prepared.